The explosive talent of Stefano Giovannoni enables him to embody a complex system of 'affective codes' in each of his projects. The "Mami" series, including this collection of dinnerware, exhibits his capacity to understand public sentiment like no other designer.

The explosive talent of Stefano Giovannoni enables him to embody a complex system of 'affective codes' in each of his projects. The "Mami" series, including this collection of dinnerware, exhibits his capacity to understand public sentiment like no other designer.

Alessi. Art and Poetry.

Alessi is a family owned Italian design company, founded in 1921. Giovanni Alessi, a talented sheet metal worker, produced items by hand for the table and home out of copper, brass and nickel-silver. He was later joined by his son Carlo who was responsible for many of the designs produced in the 1930s and early 1940s. In the mid 1940s Alessi began to work with outside designers. The current Alessi catalog is the result of a collaboration with over 500 designers from all over the world.

"A true work of design must be able to move people, to convey feelings, to trigger memories, to surprise, to go against the grain. From this point of view, design intended to conjure up images in people's minds, which makes them a bit happier, still has tremendous potential." — Alberto Alessi

Born in La Spezia, 1954, Stefano Giovannoni graduated in Architecture in Florence in 1978 and lives and works in Milan. Since 1979 he has taught and done research at the Florence Faculty of Architecture; he is master-professor at Domus Academy in Milan and at the Università del Progetto in Reggio Emilia. He has been invited for workshops at the Royal College of Art in London, at the Academy O. Kochoska in Wien, at the Hochschule der Bildenden Kunst in Saarbrücken and at the Design Quest in Osaka. Giovannoni works as an industrial and interior designer and architect and has worked with companies including Alessi, Flos, Magis, Seiko, Pulsar, Cappellini, Kankyo, and Saab. In 1991 he designed the Italian Pavillon at the exhibition Les Capitales Europeennes du nouveau design at the Centre Georges Pompidou.